In his speech, parts of which were broadcast on official PA TV and posted on his personal website, Abbas also glorified Palestinians fighting against Israel in Jerusalem who are killed in the fighting. Abbas promised that Allah will reward those who "will not allow" Jews to "defile" Jerusalem:

"We bless every drop of blood that has been spilled for Jerusalem, which is clean and pure blood, blood spilled for Allah, Allah willing. Every Martyr (Shahid) will reach Paradise, and everyone wounded will be rewarded by Allah."

With the words "we will not allow them to [defile the Al-Aqsa Mosque], and we will do everything in our power to protect Jerusalem," Abbas also endorsed continued violence and riots in Jerusalem and on the Temple Mount. This speech echoed another speech by Abbas last October, when he said that Palestinians have to "prevent" Jews from entering the Temple Mount. Abbas' speech last year, which PA TV chose to broadcast 19 times in 3 days, sparked the wave of Palestinian terror attacks against Israeli civilians in October-December 2014, which killed 11 Israelis:

"We have to prevent them, in any way whatsoever, from entering the Sanctuary. This is our Sanctuary, our Al-Aqsa and our Church [of the Holy Sepulchre]. They have no right to enter it. They have no right to defile it. We must prevent them. Let us stand before them with chests bared to protect our holy places."

The following are excerpts from Abbas' speeches broadcast on PA TV, and reports on his recent speech from WAFA, the official Palestinian news agency and the official PA daily:

Headline: "The President: 'We will defend Jerusalem, we cling to every inch of its land"

"The President of the State of Palestine Mahmoud Abbas stated: 'We are in Jerusalem, and we will remain in it. We will protect the places holy to Christianity and Islam, and will not leave our city. We will continue to cling to every inch of its land.' Today, when he [Abbas] met with activists from occupied Jerusalem in the presidential compound in Ramallah, his honor added: 'There is no door that we won't knock on to make the voice of Jerusalem be heard. I am certain that no harm will befall Jerusalem, though the occupation is waging a brutal war against it. However, we will continue to protect it in every situation. We are speaking with everyone, and everyone is asking what we are doing to make the voice of Jerusalem heard.'

His honor [Abbas] saluted the Murabitin (those carrying out Ribat, religious conflict/war to protect land claimed to be Islamic) and stated: 'Every drop of blood that has been spilled in Jerusalem is holy blood as long as it was for Allah. Every Martyr (Shahid) will reach Paradise, and everyone wounded will be rewarded, Allah willing.'

Likewise, his honor [Abbas] emphasized that the State of Palestine will not exist without Jerusalem, and that the capital of the Palestinian State has to be East Jerusalem, which was occupied in 1967. He noted that we will not allow them to carry out their actions and divide the Al-Aqsa [Mosque], and stated: 'The Al-Aqsa [Mosque] is ours, and they have no right to defile it with their filthy feet. We will not allow them to, and we will do everything in our power to protect Jerusalem."

[WAFA (the official Palestinian news agency), Sept. 16, 2015]

Note: This report did not appear on WAFA's English website, only on the Arabic one.

Division of the Al-Aqsa Mosque refers to physical division and division according to time, referring to a proposed law (May 2013) being reviewed in Israeli Parliament that would allow for both Jews and Muslims to pray on the Temple Mount. The law seeks to implement separate prayer times for Muslims and Jews at the site.

This same report appeared as the lead article on the first page of the official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida the day after it appeared on WAFA with the following headline:

Headline: "The President: 'We will protect Jerusalem and will not allow them to defile the Al-Aqsa [Mosque] and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre with their filthy feet'"

[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Sept. 17, 2015]

Official PA TV News broadcast Abbas' statement at a meeting with "activists for the defense of the Noble Sanctuary" (i.e., the Temple Mount).

PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas: "We bless you, we bless the Murabitin (those carrying out Ribat, religious conflict/war to protect land claimed to be Islamic), we bless every drop of blood that has been spilled for Jerusalem, which is clean and pure blood, blood spilled for Allah, Allah willing. Every Martyr (

Shahid) will reach Paradise, and everyone wounded will be rewarded by Allah. The Al-Aqsa [Mosque] is ours, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is ours, and they have no right to defile them with their filthy feet. We will not allow them to, and we will do everything in our power to protect Jerusalem."

[Official PA TV, Sept. 16, 2015]

PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas: "It's not enough for us to say: 'There are those carrying out Ribat' (religious conflict / war over land claimed to be Islamic). We must all carry out Ribat in the Al-Aqsa [Mosque]. It's not enough for us to say: 'The settlers have arrived [at the Mosque]'. They have come, and they must not come to the Sanctuary (i.e., Temple Mount). We have to prevent them, in any way whatsoever, from entering the Sanctuary. This is our Sanctuary, our Al-Aqsa and our Church [of the Holy Sepulchre]. They have no right to enter it. They have no right to defile it. We must prevent them. Let us stand before them with chests bared to protect our holy places."